Tag Archives: Health

For many boomers and seniors, talking about plans for their later years with their children is not a hot agenda item. But it should be.

Planning for long-term care represents a carefully thought out decision to be made with the help of an extended care professional. You need information so you can make educated decisions about the care you may need – and Your LTC Resource is a great place to get the facts for yourself and help with your future health needs.

Just as you need that important information, your adult children do, too. Make time to sit down with your adult children and honestly discuss your preferences and your decisions. Ed & I are fully ready to help you discuss the many options for Long and Short-Term Care (and the many new hybrid plans) available to you. That talk with your kids? It’s something we’ve always recommended.

Recently, we ran across a down-to-earth guide called, “The Other Talk; A Guider to Talking with Your Adult Children About the Rest of Your Life.” The guide provides tips for honest discussions about such tough topics as:

Who do you want to help manage your finances, and how will you budget for unknown needs?

If you need assisted living, where do you want to live?

Where can your children find the documents and information they’ll need to help?

What type of medical treatments do you want — and not want?

Who will advocate for your needs?

It’s good, and very reasonably priced (available in paperback for $9 from Amazon, and on Kindle for $8.55). Click HERE for a link for more information on this book.

Education, information and frank, open talks. All three are the keys to making smart decisions, and communicating honestly with your family. ~ Ed & Elise

Very true words, and I take them seriously. Even if it means I don’t get your business.

My father always said, “Always do what’s in the best interest for your client,” and I’ve never strayed from that. Because when you work with people in planning for their future, you want to be sure you are providing them with a good service they need at a price they can afford.

Case in point: Last week I visited with a husband and wife who had both recently retired. They had no savings, were in reasonably good health, but were having trouble consistently paying their mortgage. They wanted to buy a Long-Term Care policy.

The more I talked with them, the more I was sure that Long-Term Care was not right for them. They were already strained paying their mortgage. The last thing they needed was to add another bill to their budget.

I suggested that a better route for their situation might be to get information on a reverse mortgage, since they did have equity in their home. I put them in touch with someone I knew would give them the information they needed to make a good decision.

They called me back to thank me and suggested that now that they had money in the bank, they could invest in Long-Term Care. I had to smile. I was pleased they believed so strongly in the program and in my services, but once again, I said that I didn’t feel Long-Term Care was in their best interest right now.

Would your agent have made that decision? My responsibility and commitment as a Long-Term Care planning specialist is to help navigate through the many choices available for clients, and help them choose what is best for them — even if it means I don’t sell them a policy.

I am always happy to talk to new potential customers and give them the facts about Long-Term Care and other extended care programs. And – I’m always ready to say no, if what I offer isn’t in their best interests. I think that’s the only way to go… and my father, I’m sure, would agree. ~ Elise

One sentence I’ve yet to have a potential client say is, “When I’m old, I hope to live my last days in a nursing home.”

I hear you loud and clear – that’s not your preference.

As the co-owner of YourLTCresources.net, I’m an extended care professional, and have been for the better part of the past 30 years. Helping you provide for yourself and your family in the ways you want is the best part of my job.

I know nursing home living is not part of your plan, so let’s map out a health care insurance plan that factors in your ideas, your finances, and your family. If you are approaching your 50s, right now is a great time to make key decisions while you are still vital and healthy, and make your preferences known.

I often refer to myself as a “tour guide” in the labyrinth of Long-Term and Short-Term Health Care Insurance options. Navigating that path on behalf of my clients is what I do best. And the best news I have for you is, you have a LOT of choices!

When we sit down to talk, it’s you that will be telling me what’s important to you, and how you want to live out your life. What I do is provide you with options that work with your ideas and your budget. Together we can plan for every health contingency.

You’ve worked hard to set up your life the way you want it to be. Let me help you align your future health and well being in the same way.

The most common misunderstanding about advance care health planning may be that it requires consulting with an attorney and the creation of numerous complex legal documents. In reality, advance planning starts at the kitchen table, with a thoughtful conversation with your spouse and/or family members.

Focus on advance care planning, talking about how you want your health care needs handled, financially as well as physically, and from there, move on to a discussion about a living will, a will and burial decisions. Then you are ready to speak with a Health Care Insurance advisor to set up a health care plan that meets your needs, and an attorney to take care of your will.

Yes, some of the topics may be uncomfortable to talk about. Studies show most people would rather indefinitely postpone these conversations, rather than have them. But all it takes is one cautionary tale from someone like me, a Health Care Insurance advisor, to realize delaying is not the answer.

Claire and Rich, both in their 50s, sat down with me and talked for about an hour and a half about Long-Term (LTC) and Short-Term (STC) Health Care policies. They agreed that having both a LTC and STC policy could help them, but decided to take a few days to think through some of the plans I showed them.

When I checked back with them, Claire had decided to postpone their decision for a couple of months, until after the holidays.

Unfortunately, Rich had a stroke about a month later, and was unable to buy the Short-Term Care policy that would have helped Claire pay for his home health care and nursing home care needs while he was recovering. Like many stroke victims, Rich lived, but will now be ineligible for Long-Term and Short-Term Care policies because of his pre-existing condition.

I was still able to help Claire, but felt very badly not to have been able to help Rich as well.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t want to think about end of life and critical care health needs – often waiting too long – until after something devastating happens.

This is the reason I’m so passionate about health care insurance! I want to make sure you don’t get caught up in a crisis situation like Claire and Rich did. Both LTC and STC health insurance needs to be decided upon WHILE YOU ARE HEALTHY.

Many of us think that if we have life insurance, Living Will, employer health insurance or private health, or Medicare, we’re all set. But unfortunately, that’s just not the case. I’ve seen what unexpected health crises can do when there hasn’t been forethought and planning, and it’s not pretty. In this regard, my insurance CLTC certification and training are important, but just as important is my 25 years of experience.

Because I know what CAN happen, I know how to protect you from as many potential problems as possible. As the co-founder of Your LTC Resource, my job is to assure that singles, couples and families are protected in as many ways as possible when it comes to their future healthcare needs.

That phrase “as many ways as possible” is incredibly important. We can’t know what our future mental or physical health will be. That’s why we need to have Long-Term Care insurance that is flexible as well as responsible.

Being flexible means both Long-Term and Short-Term Care insurance. It means taking a good look at your present health insurance policies, and finding the gaps. The more planning we do, the better prepared you’ll be for every health and financial contingency.

When you do our Long-Term Care planning homework, the payoff in your future is well worth the time.